Displaced I: The Exchange

XXIV - Revolution

“A procedure or
course, back to it’s starting point.”

*

Date: Friday, October 13, 2006

Location: Landing Bay, Earth Station One (ES-1), Eldersburg,
Maryland

Age: 35 (Current)

I

Tom stood across the landing bay by the control room, waiting
for us well out of the way of the temporal displacement. Seventeen years passed for him in the span of
a minute for us. Tom and Connor gave
each other nods as Connor excused himself to confer with him, leaving Ryan and
I to exchange confused glances. The two
of them clearly knew something we didn’t.

“What do you think is happening?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Whatever
it is, Tom knew about it before we left.
If it has anything to do with the capture of those Corporation agents,
it was code black before we left. Now it
isn’t.”

We watched Connor nod repetitively as Tom clapped his
shoulder in reassurance. Connor jacked
his thumb towards the Brüder-2 ship, at us.
They paused, both looking in our direction.

I didn’t like where this was going.

Connor wiped his forehand across his brow, the way a man
does when he knows there is bad news to deliver, and doesn’t want to. Since it was I they were specifically looking
toward, I assumed the bad news was about me, or for me. With reluctance, Tom and Connor joined us.

“Looks like we got what we wanted,” Connor said. “The Corporation sent out feelers in January
of 1989, not too long after we snatched up their agents. They claim to have one of our own, wanting to
negotiate an exchange.”

“Who do they have?”
Ryan asked. “Did they say?”

Connor flashed me a worried glance without responding. It made sense now.

“It’s me,” I said. “We
already know they kidnapped me in July of 1989, when I was seventeen. That’s who they have hostage. We’ll probably have to trade those agents for
my release.” I paused. “What am I saying? I’m standing here now at age
thirty-five. The exchange has already
happened.”

“It has and it hasn’t,” Connor said. “It’s already happened for you when you were
seventeen, when you were unaware of what was happening. The actions of you, by extension of the FCA
have not. We know now what we have to
do.”

I glared at Connor. “So
your decision to take those Corporation agents is what got me kidnapped? I have to be honest with you Connor, I’m not
real happy with this.”

“I understand your frustration, Kevin,” he said, appearing
as apologetic as possible. “I made it in
the heat of the moment, my decision. I
thought it was the best course of action to get us back safely.”

“That day fucked me up,” I snapped. “And I still don’t remember what happened!”

“You will.”

Connor’s words of assertion did not help. “Cause Dan said so?” I asked, wanting him to see I was
annoyed. “You’re placing a lot of trust
into the very same person who kidnapped me.”

“I never said I trusted him,” Connor said, firming up his
stance. His body language let me know
there was only so much of my attitude he would tolerate. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and over
that time you learn a few things about people, especially where The Corporation
is concerned. Do I believe everything he’s
told me since his surrender, Dan has?
Absolutely not. Do I think he has
ulterior motives? Probably. My gut tells me if those things are true,
it’s to his benefit to sprinkle some truth over his lies. The answers you want are coming. You’re just going to have to trust me. Okay?”

I sighed in frustration.
I would have to trust him and believe him. I was in too deep now to walk away,
especially since I wasn’t even in my own body.

Tom had more to add to Connor’s explanation. “The Corporation was present at the reservoir
the day Connor captured their agents, because they are surveying the area. Since the altercation at your parents home in
1977, Dan has been keeping tabs on you.”

“What?” I asked. “I was just a little boy then. That makes no sense.”

“True, but when you reached your teenage years, did you not
begin spending more time at the reservoir?”

“I guess I did, especially after I learned to drive. It’s where I used to go to be alone, and
think.”

Tom continued. “Dan
was not sure when you became active with the FCA back then. It is my theory he believes we recruit you
during that time. Your journeys around
the reservoir become a topic of interest to him. I monitored their communication between the
time they lost their agents and the day they took you. They wanted to know where you went, what you
were doing, and whom you interacted with, if you actually did. It was their hope you would lead them
directly to us. Fortunately, this was
never the case.” It came as no surprise
my missing day from 1989 revolved around something like this.

“There’s more,” Connor said.
“They know your seventeen-year-old counterpart has the coin, or at least
they believe you do.”

Connor answered.
“That’s where we are stuck. The
quarter goes missing again. Older Dan -
the one we have in custody - said you didn’t have it on you the day he took you
prisoner, the quarter. If he’s telling
the truth, all he claimed to get from you was its location, under the stairs at
the Arthur Avenue house, and we know what happened with that. Sometime between January and July of 1989,
something happens to the quarter. I’m
hoping when the come back, your memories, it’ll fill in that piece of the
puzzle.”

“So now what?” I
asked, hand still perched on my hips. “We
go back to the day I was taken and trade those Corporation goons for my younger
self?”

“First thing’s first,” Connor said. “I don’t want to put you in these circumstances
while you are still using Chief Manyette’s body, and in position of the
spiritual element. We go back to ES-5
first and resolve those issues, and then we take care of this business.” Connor turned his attention to Ryan. “Take Kevin and Burder-2 back to ES-5. Have Jim coordinate the spiritual transfer. Also, tell him about the Chief’s gibberish
Kevin has been hearing. It means
something, and we have to know what it is.
When everything there is squared away, the two of you return here via
the Jaunte.”

I felt mild panic with Connor’s plan. “You’re not coming with us?”

“No. To negotiate for
your younger counterpart’s release, I’ll need to confer with Jim in 1989 to set
it up. We’ll be ready to go, by the time
you and Ryan return.”

Ryan shook his head. “I
don’t know how to access ES-1 from the Jaunte system. The only person who does is you.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Connor said, scratching his chin. “I’ll preset the system to bring you back
automatically.” He glanced at me and winked. “When you’re ready to leave, Ryan, run a
macro I’ll label ‘conundrum’. The system
will bring you here, removing the log entry.
The only evidence of the trip will remain here.”

“Copy,” Ryan said.

Connor withdrew the blue ring from his pocket and placed it
firmly in Ryan’s hand. “Jim will need
this.”

Ryan nodded in acknowledgement. Connor and Tom left the hangar, discussing
their next plan of action. Ryan offered
a half smile. “You ready?”

“I don’t think I ever was.”

II

Ryan made no haste returning to Area 51. During the flight, I asked how the Brüder
ships evaded other aircraft. He
explained when flying in the upper atmosphere, there was no need to worry about
other air traffic. We could fly as fast
as we wanted. Even so, the ship was
equipped with an advanced version of radar, called DRADIS, an acronym for Direction, RAnge and DIStance, which
would prevent the ship from flying into any other object. It would make necessary course corrections well
in advance of any potential impact. I also
asked how Brüder ships avoided Earth bound radar systems. Considering the ‘ancient technology’
involved, Ryan explained it to the best of his ability. Radar signals would bend around the ship when it
flew at slower speeds and not refract, thus no blip would appear on radar
image. In most cases, the ship traveled
too fast for radar to notice it.
Occasionally, there were some instances of newer, more advanced radar bouncing
back off a Brüder ship, but because the ship travels so fast, the radar
operator would read the blip as an object moving at speeds not possible. Radar operators call those blips ‘temperature
inversion’. Ryan explained that thin air
at higher altitudes generally doesn’t hold heat well, as does the heavier air
at the Earth's surface. Radar signals
easily pass through the air, reflecting the flying objects it comes across. Sometimes, often during periods of high
temperatures and humidity, pockets of hot air refuse to dissipate as they rise.
When radar beams encounter those warm
air pockets, they refract downward and reflect objects on the Earth's surface. As one air pocket dissipates, the radar beam
jumps to another and the resulting refraction makes it appear as if the blips
are moving at warp speed.

Area 51 was the sole exception, using the Brüder DRADIS
system. A safety precaution against
Bruder-3 (when it existed) and any other ship The Corporation might have.

Upon our approach, Ryan notified Area 51 with the usual
‘stranger/friend’ banter and docked in a different hanger, away from the one we
docked at originally. The previous
hanger was now a crime scene. It remained
taped off and unavailable for use.

Jim Marks and Krissie Ecklie met us as we disembarked. Before we exchanged words, Ryan offered the
blue spiritual element ring to Jim. He
took it with a nod. That’s Jim’s way, to
acknowledging actions with a mere nod.
He seemed to say so much in that one gesture. Relief, appreciation, and respect were all
there.

“Is my body fixed?” I
asked, breaking the silence.

Krissie smiled. “It
is, love. Good as new.”

“Then let’s get this over with. The sooner I am back in my own body, the
better. Having absorbed some of Manyette’s
personality has not been the highlight of my life.”

Krissie grinned, giving me a sly look. “I know what was,” she whispered under her
breath.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said, secret smile applied.

As we walked, Ryan reported our recent activities to Jim. He also mentioned the gibberish I kept hearing
in Manyette’s head when attempting to access his memories. Jim looked to me after Ryan had finished his
report. “Could you please speak the
phrase for me, Kevin?”

Jim made no facial expression, as all ‘Brüder as humans’
tend to do. “It means nothing to me.”

“I didn’t think it would,” Ryan said. “It makes no sense.”

Jim continued to observe me as we walked towards the medical
building, where my real body lay in waiting.
“Is it Chief Manyette’s voice making the statement?”

“I don’t know,” I said.
“It’s in the ‘mind’s voice’, the voice in your head when you have
thoughts. It has no discernable depth or
timbre.”

“Understood,” said Jim, contemplating the information. “If the voice had been the Chief’s, it would
have been him communicating with you.
You would feel his presence. I do
not believe the Chief is saying those words.
Any thoughts Dr. Ecklie?”

“It would be easier if I could discuss this with Martin,
since he understands this concept more than anyone”

“That ain’t gonna happen!”
I said, channeling Manyette’s personality.

“Seconded,” Ryan added.

Jim still appeared troubled.
“I cannot explain why, but the phrase seems familiar to me. I believe I have heard it before.” He glanced at Ryan. “Did Tom have any thoughts?”

“None.”

Jim frowned, saying nothing more as we entered the medical
building.

The moment I dreaded was finally upon me. Armed with the knowledge of my body’s
restored health, there was still something off-putting and downright creepy
about seeing my unconscious self. I had
gone to great lengths to avoid direct eye contact. Now I had no choice.

“How do we do this?”
I asked. “I’m not certain I fully
understand how to move myself back over.”

“You won’t have to,” Jim said. Krissie rolled over an additional bed and
positioned it next mine. “I will
facilitate the transfer. All you need do
is lie down, close your eyes, and relax.”

I felt the need to look at Krissie for some kind of
confirmation. It was not that I distrusted
Jim. I had full confidence in him and
his other worldly abilities. Krissie’s
approval simply made me feel better. She
smiled and nodded, holding the hand of my waiting body.

I did as Jim instructed.
The last image I witnessed through Manyette’s eyes was Jim slipping the
blue ring onto his own right index finger.
I closed my eyes as Jim took my left hand in his. “Okay Kevin, here we go.”

There was a strange sensation of my consciousness pulling
away from Manyette’s body.

Then nothing.

III

I awoke feeling Krissie’s fingers entwined with mine. I opened my eyes, head turned in Manyette’s
direction. He lay in his medical bed,
still unconscious. I looked up Krissie,
who was smiling. Always smiling. God, she was beautiful.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

“Is it morning?” I asked,
hearing my own voice this time. I
inadvertently broke a small grin. How
good it was to hear my own voice again. “I’ve
lost track of what time it actually is.”

“It’s late afternoon.
You’ve been asleep for over an hour.”

“Is that normal? Did
everything go okay?”

“Everything went fine, love.
I am little concerned about the Chief.
He’s not responding to any stimuli.”

“He’s in there, although he’s not aware of what’s going on
around him.”

I looked down at our intertwined fingers. She followed my glance and casually withdrew
her hand. “I should not have done that,
I'm sorry,” she said, looking away.

“Do we have some kind of history together, Kristina?”

She smiled at my use of her full name. A twinge of heartache quickly eclipsed her
twinkling blue eyes. “No love, my
history with you is your future. I want
to tell you more, but I cannot. Not now.”

I suddenly remembered Connor telling me about the names
Ecklie and Provance aboard the FCA-1 observation platform in 2095, a future
embodiment of myself and a past incarnation of Krissie. Perhaps Connor was right about my accepting
his offer of inclusion within the FCA.
What else would explain such a thing?

“How old were you?” I
asked.

“When I met you originally?”

“Yes.”

“It was several years ago for me. That’s all I can say. Please don't ask me anything else. I can’t be responsible for creating a paradox
merely to satisfy my own appetite.”

I could do nothing else but look at her, knowing she was
experiencing some level of heartache. When
her glance shifted to make eye contact with me, she smiled again, attempting to
let me know she was okay. This time I took
her hand. She let me.

“Did Ryan tell you what happened while we were gone?” I asked.

“He did.”

“It’s fucked up. I
mean – whatever we do is obviously going to be successful because I’m lying
here talking to you, but I have no idea why.
There are still so many unanswered questions. I don’t know why I’m so scared to go through
with this.”

I watched Krissie’s pupils shift from side to side. She was studying the expression on my face,
and the fear in my eyes. “I will go with
you.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Connor didn’t say anything about you coming
with us. What if something happens to
you too?”

“You’re going to have to take my word for this, when I say I’ve
been through much worse as far as The Corporation is concerned. You went to great lengths to take care of me
once. Let me watch over you for a
change.”

I squint my eyes in uncertainty. “You keep dropping these hints about something
significant happening to us, if not between us.
Can’t you just tell me what happened?”

“I really want to. I’ll
have you know you did the same thing to me, alluding to what is happening now
and refusing to tell me because of our sodding code black protocol. You were very protective of me. I could not help but think it was over guilt.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. You
were going to tell me the night I had to leave.
Circumstances prevented us from seeing each other again before you could
say. Something ghastly happens to me, I
think, something that hasn’t occurred yet, but will.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go after all.”

“No, I want to,” she insisted. “What ever happens to me – if indeed something
does happen - is supposed to come to pass.
I came to terms with this a long time ago.” She was right of course. Attempting to prevent an event we know
happens could create a paradox, and Connor frowns upon those. “Besides,” she continued with a superior
stance, “I am the ranking medical officer here.
If it’s my medical opinion you require observation during your mission,
then I am obligated to tag along.”

“So I’m guessing that’s your way of saying arguing with you
would be pointless?”

A bigger grin. “Exactly.”

Before I could pursue this witty/flirty banter to see where
it went, Ryan charged into my curtained cubicle. “Great, you’re awake,” he said, out of
breath. “We have a missing person
problem now.”

Krissie discreetly removed her hand from mine. “Who is it?”

“We don’t yet know.”

I scoffed. “Well,
then how do you know they’re missing if you don’t know who it is?” I paused briefly, following it with a
Cheshire cat grin. “Isn’t that a
conundrum?”

The play on words drew a hearty laugh from Krissie. Ryan shook his head with a half grin, rolling
his eyes. “No one from the FCA is
missing,” he said. “One of the Corporation
agent corpses is missing. Lieutenant
West, who is acting commander until the Chief wakes up, said the total body
count was twelve. When West’s team moved
them to the morgue, one was missing.”

“Was it the guy who got his head blown off?” I asked.

“No, it was someone else.
We don’t have names for these pukes, so we tagged them John Doe one
through twelve. John Doe number eight is
missing.”

Krissie said, “Is Jim aware of this discrepancy?

“Yes. He instructed
me to make sure you two were safe and accounted for.”

I grinned. “As you
can see, we are. Do you think one of
them actually lived?”

“The base coroner verified all twelve agents were dead
before tagging them,” he replied. “Between
that time and his trip to the Coroners office, one disappeared. It either got up and walked away or was
stolen.”

I pondered the situation, looking at all the angles. “Has anyone bothered to make sure Martin was
alive and secure?”

“Yes, Jim verified it personally. He also ordered additional security where we
are holding him. No one gains entry
until Connor returns. And I mean no
one.”

“Yes. And because he
does, I suspect one of the agents’ bodies was stolen.”

I cringed. “Who the
hell would want to steal a dead body?”

“I think the question should be, ‘who the hell would want to
steal a dead Corporation agent’,” Ryan said.

Krissie answered. “Another
agent?”

“Exactly,” Ryan said.
“Jim is locking down the base again.
No one in or out, with the exception of Kevin and me.”

“And me,” Krissie added.

“Dr. Ecklie, I don’t think that’s wise considering—”

“I’m going Ryan, and that’s that!” She said crossing her arms. She pulled the same ‘medical officer’s
opinion’ stuff she did with me.

Ryan knew it was a bogus excuse, and sighed in relent. “Okay Krissie, put together whatever you
need. We’ll be Jaunting to ES-1 shortly.”

Her eyes lit up. “Earth
Station One? Really?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent, I’ll be ready then. Thank you for including me.”

“I don’t recall being given a choice,” Ryan said under his breath
as he walked away. Krissie dismissed him
and excused herself for a few minutes, leaving me alone with Manyette, who didn’t
have a whole lot to say.

I looked at my old friend, who lay silently on the medical
bed, his breathing slow and steady, just like Wald. Now two of my oldest and best friends were
here, rendered unconscious. “Thanks for
letting me use your body, Manyette,” I said, realizing the casual passer by
might have misconstrued the statement for something it was not. I cringed at my vague words. “Allow me to rephrase; Thank you for hosting
my consciousness so I didn’t die. We see
Earth shinin’, dude. Someday I hope you
can explain to me what exactly that means.”

An exceptionally loud and annoying buzzer echoed across the
building. Based on the reverberation
outside, the entire compound got it as well.
I covered my ears. A message
followed.

“This compound is currently locked down by order of FCA Jim
Marks. Off-duty personnel should return
to their quarters immediately. On-duty
personnel please confine activity to your assigned area. There are to be no personnel outside their
assigned building without proper security.
There are no exceptions.”

“Except for us,” I said in a mumble. Krissie returned expeditiously, carrying her
little black bag of Brüder tricks. “That
was quick,” I observed.

She smiled, leaning in to give me a close hug. “I don’t require much to make me happy,” she
teased.

“I’ll note that for future reference,” I quipped in return.

“Yes, I imagine you will.”
She pulled back and gazed into my eyes.

“Did I feel the same way about you, Kristina? When I will know you, will we be close, like
now?”

“Like now?” She
repeated. “Are we close now?”

She called my slip. “Sure,
why not? I mean were as close as – any
two people who…”

“Shut up and kiss me,” she whispered.

To say her kisses were as sweet as candy would not only be cliché,
it wouldn’t be enough to describe how it felt.
I thought our kiss would last forever.
When she finally did pulled back, she said, “Tell me sweetheart, does
this help negate the plans you had for that little tart you meant to visit
before you found your FutureQuarter?”

“How did you know about…”

“You told me. I know
everything you did in the weeks leading up to your sue—”

“Okay Kristina,” I said, interrupting her thought. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

She put her hands on her tiny waist and feigned a pout. “Fine!”
She stood that way for several seconds before bursting out in
laughter. “Sorry, love. I’m just having a bit of fun at your expense.” I shook my head and sighed with a smile. “To answer your original question; yes, you
and I become close, but not at first. You
will need to be patient with me. That’s
all I can say. When we meet, you will
understand why.”

“Okay,” I said, pulling her closer to me so I could kiss her
one more time. The feel of her soft hand
on my face was exquisite. I could lose
myself in it forever.

Ryan discreetly cleared his throat, bringing us back to
reality. He stood at the foot of Manyette’s
bed, smiling awkwardly. I felt like a
humiliated teenager whose mother walked in on him making out with his girlfriend. We quickly got to our feet, looking around
uncomfortably.

“Been here long?” I
asked, attempting to balance the situation.

“Long enough,” Ryan said, with a wink. “Don’t worry about it. We do need to get going though.” I felt relieved. Even though I was not officially part of the
FCA, breaking any possible rules regarding fraternizing with other FCA would
not have given me the best start.

Jim waited for us at the exit door of the medical building,
along with Lieutenant West who would be our assigned security for walking about
the base during lockdown. He was
surprised to see Krissie accompanying our group. He looked at Ryan. “Is Dr. Ecklie joining us?”

“Yes. She feels in
her capacity of CMO the wounds Kevin and I sustained should be carefully
monitored,” Ryan said, covering for her.
I had to respect his loyalty, even if it was for Krissie’s benefit. Jim nodded and said no more, as he always
does.

The five of us walked vigorously in silence to the Jaunte
building. The vacant compound resembled
a ghost town. It was downright creepy. Even with Jim’s status and reputation,
security in and out of the Jaunte building was tighter than ever. Instead of the usual two guards at the
building entrance, there were four. The
tunnel entrance, the portal entrance, and the portal itself also benefitted
from additional personnel. Each was ready
to use their weapon without hesitation.

Jim would not be accompanying us. Instead, his 1989 counterpart would be
participating. He had the lockdown of
the base to deal with since Manyette was still unconscious. There was also the matter of the missing
Corporation agent body to investigate.

True to Connor’s word, the ‘conundrum’ macro programmed inside
the Jaunte system was ready to run. It would
take us to ES-1 and leave no trace of the event. Five minutes later, Ryan, Krissie, and I were
awake in the ES-1 Jaunte room with two FCA military soldiers pointing their
weapons at us. Jim notified Connor and
Tom via communicator of our impending arrival.
They waited silently in the background while the Jaunte guards verified
our identities. Per protocol, the five
of us endured the same verification as we left the Jaunte room.

Connor did not seem surprised at Krissie’s inclusion. It led me to believe he knew more about what
was coming than he let on, and it bothered me.
Not so much his withholding information behind the code black protocol, but
his withholding information about what happened after the Corporation snatched
me up when I was seventeen. After older Dan
surrendered, he revealed something Connor was keeping to himself. I wanted to know what it was.

When the verifications outside the Jaunte room were
complete, Connor and Tom shook hands in anticipation of our departure. Tom would leave toward the direction of the
lift to take him down into the ES-1 complex.
This indicated to me we would be traveling in the opposite direction,
towards the hatch into the Arthur Avenue house.

“I will be monitoring your progress,” Tom said to Connor,
barely out of earshot range. “I will wait
for your call.”

“Thank you, Tom,” Connor said. “We leave as friends.”

“And I you. Good luck
TDI-1.” Tom looked over towards the rest
of us. “To all of you.” He may have addressed all of us, but he was
looking at me.

Connor turned around, walking to the head of the group. “Once we have displaced to July of 1989, we’ll
be entering Luke’s house through the hatch into his hobby room. Jim Marks is already there finishing the
memory erasing procedures on our two captured agents.”

We walked in silence down the hall toward the ramp leading
up to the hatch behind Luke’s hobby room, formerly my father’s workshop. Krissie walked with me, looking over a couple
of times to see how I was doing. I didn’t
bother to look back. I could only focus
on my fear.

We stopped at the top of the hatch ramp, next to the hatch
ladder bolted to the end wall.

In a huddle and a flash, Connor took us once again into the
past.

IV

Date: Thursday, July 13, 1989

Location: ES-1 Exit Hatch, Arthur Avenue house, Eldersburg,
Maryland

Age: 35 (Current)

When we were through, we righting ourselves from the slight
stumble of displacement from one time to another. Connor flipped his communicator open and
entered the decryption routine to contact Jim.

“Are you a stranger?”
Jim asked through the device.

“I come as a friend,” Connor replied. “Things are not as they appear.”

Translation: I am
with the FCA and we time traveled to get here.

Connor continued, “We’re under the hatch.”

“Copy,” Jim said. The
holographic door comprising the hatch disappeared. Connor climbed up first. He said something to Jim I couldn’t hear. Jim peered down into the tunnel. “Gentlemen, Dr. Ecklie. Come on up.”

The stress of temporal displacement caught up with me again. The mild vertigo began to make me nauseated,
in addition to the usual symptoms.
Climbing up the ladder through the hatch took more of an effort than I
anticipated.

Krissie noticed right away.
“Are you okay?”

“That last jump isn’t agreeing with me. The stretching sensation when we went through
was more intense this time.”

“When did you last receive a TS-14 injection, hon?”

“I don’t remember. Right
after I woke up in Manyette’s body?”

“Before that.”

I struggled to recall.
My once sharp memory was not working as well as it used to. Identifying the current day based on the constant
of the previous was no longer reliable. That
constant was now a variable, changing every few hours. One minute we are in the middle of the
afternoon, the next it’s night. It simply
never occurred to me to look around and say to myself, ‘gee, I’m in the year
1989’. If I did, I would probably go
nuts or suffer from another episode of temporal psychosis. Focusing on what I was doing, and meeting
whatever goal needed satisfying kept me from thinking about when I
was. It can mess with your head, existing
in a different time where everyone you know and love is present, but you can’t
have any contact with them. I also
didn’t consider those same people who may not yet be alive, or who have passed away. I can’t.
It would create a level of unfathomable stress.

“I don’t know,” I finally replied, having been lost in
thought for several seconds. “Not since
Martin overdosed me, I think.” Krissie
glanced away briefly. Evidently, she
still had some guilt, even though I assured her it was not her fault. “I’ll be fine,” I said. “I don’t want anymore of that stuff unless I
absolutely can’t take the pain. I’ve
already been feeling withdraw symptoms.”

Krissie’s eyes widened at my admission. “Why didn’t you say something,
sweetheart? I can treat it without
making it worse for you.”

The diatribe caught Connor’s attention. “Are you okay, Kev?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I said, projecting some annoyance over the
unwanted attention. “I promise, if I
start feeling sick I’ll say something. I
just want to get this shit over with.”

“Understood,” said Connor, leaving it alone.

I followed the group out of Luke’s hobby room into the main
basement. An active HMS encapsulated
both captured Corporation agents. They
were unconscious and bound to the holographic bio beds. Instead of their usual black suits, each wore
normal attire, jeans, T-shirts and the like.
Luke stood before one of the holographic panels, studying the displayed
data.

Connor joined him, reviewing the data as well. “How did the procedures go?”

“By the book,” Luke said.
“To be safe, several days’ worth of memories up till their capture could
be lost or blocked.”

With repugnance, I looked at the HMS generated machine used
to remove memories. “Did they use
something like that on me?”

Krissie wrapped her arm around mine. “Most likely,” she whispered.

I looked down at her.
“Can you use that set up to fix whatever they did?”

“We’ve tried in on others in the past, love. It’s never been a successful endeavor. The side effects of those failures are not
something you want to risk.”

“Fuck,” I said, under my breath.

Connor stared at me as I gazed upon the holographic wonder
that could not help me. When I met his
stare, he appeared on the verge of saying something. He wanted to say something. Instead, he directed his attention to
Jim. “How long?”

“Daniel wants to meet at eleven AM,” Jim said. It would figure Dan was involved somehow. “We should count on him arriving early. Therefore, we should attempt to arrive
earlier. Tom is monitoring the entire
area. He will signal when there is
activity.”

Connor walked around from behind the HMS. “The plan Jim and I have is a simple
one. We trade these agents for him, Kevin’s
younger counterpart. Dan and I are supposed
to meet one on one with no reinforcements.”

“Whoa,” Ryan said, interrupting Connor. “Are you seriously going to meet with The
Corporation without backup? You can’t
seriously expect them to abide by the same.”

“Of course I don’t.
Krissie will accompany me in her capacity as chief medical officer. You, Kevin, and Jim will back us up, visually
displaced. If Dan does have backup or
attempts anything other than the exchange, you’ll reveal yourselves, fully
armed. We know the Corporation has the visual
displacement ability, four of their people we know of. They’ll probably use it. I want to be ready for anything.”

I looked at Ryan. “Can
you do that? Make Jim and me invisible?”

“The two of you will need to make physical contact with me
as I displace.” Ryan looked back to
Connor. “Where exactly is the ‘exchange’
taking place?”

Connor sighed, flashing me the same worried look the last
time this question came up. “The
reservoir.”

My life flashed before my eyes. This was what the huge reveal Connor was
hiding. “You’ve got to be fucking
kidding me,” I said, lowly.

The news was about to get worse.

“I pushed for that location,” Connor said.

“You WHAT?”

Connor lowered his head, rubbing his forehead. “This is how it’s supposed to happen. We already know he’s going to recover you
from the reservoir, Tom will. We know
where. He’s all set to go. The exchange will be a success.”

I had to sit down. I
thought I might faint. Krissie sat
directly next to me, her arm still wrapped around mine. “It’s okay, love. I’m going to be there too. Any medical attention you need as a young lad,
I will give him.”

In a show of camaraderie, Connor approached and took a seat
on my opposite side. “Believe me. I understand how you feel, the stress. It’s not the exact same situation, but I went
through something similar when they kidnapped me originally, The Corporation. Whatever happens, whatever you see, we’re
going to get through it. I’ve seen young
men and women come and go through the FCA over the years, and with the sole
exception of Ryan, I’ve never seen anyone handle the stress of what we do as
well as you have, over the last few days.
Not a single person.” I looked up
at Ryan, who nodded in agreement. “What
we’re about to do will be a piece of cake by comparison. Remember earlier today when I asked you to
trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you?”

I looked up at Connor’s aged face. There was nothing but sincerity there. “I do.”

“Then trust me when I tell you this will all work out. I pushed for it, the reservoir location, not
only because of your recovery location, but for tactical reasons.”

This sparked Ryan’s interest. “How so?”

“They’ve been nosing in and around this section of the reservoir
over the last several months here in 1989, The Corporation has. They think there is something here. Our wanting to meet them here could dispel
some of those curiosities. Every type of
scanner and monitor we have aboard ES-1 is on full. Tracking Bruder-3 after it cloaks – even
knowing what we do about that ship now – has still been an ongoing
problem. If she shows up today, there is
a very good chance we can track her now and figure out exactly where they park
her. This’ll reveal its location, The
Corporations HQ. We know they have one
in Maryland, most likely Baltimore County.
Knowing where they hide the ship will be very helpful before its all
said and done.”

I looked around the room at all the faces looking back at
me. I stopped at Connors. “I’m supposed to be there? You know this for certain?”

“That’s what I think.”

But you don’t know for certain, do you, I thought.

“Okay,” I said against my better nature. “Let’s do it.”

V

It was warm outside, in the lower seventies with no
humidity. A typical Maryland summer
morning (although my body still felt like it was early evening, the time of day
we left 2006). Jim pulled his new car –
a 1988 Chevy Cavalier – up to the kitchen door, at the left side of the house. His previous car, the Dodge I left abandoned
at the bottom of Arthur Avenue sat in a Maryland State Police impound lot. The police took it away the following day since
no one showed up to claim it.

Directly across from the kitchen door, with approximately
six feet in between was the door to the basement. We were able to move the Corporation agents
from the basement to the car unseen. Jim
kept them heavily sedated, ensuring they would not wake up for several
hours. He felt this measure necessary to
make certain neither one would have any memory of the Arthur Avenue location.

As there was no way to squeeze seven people into Jim’s
Cavalier, Connor and Krissie drove the Cavalier with the Corporation agents
secure in the backseat. Jim drove the
rest of us in Luke’s Toyota. Out of our
group, Jim held the only valid driver’s license. Mine would not be legitimate for another
seventeen years, and no one else had one.
In 2095, there was no need.

Before we left, Connor and Jim demonstrated how to use the
communicators in ‘open COM’ mode. There
were no fancy holographic tricks this time.
I slid a small hearing aid type device into my outer ear. It operated much like a Bluetooth headset, transmitting
and receiving from the communicator device in my pocket. When separated, we would be able to hear one
another via our communicators. The
concept took a bit of getting used to at first, listening to everyone engaged
in multiple conversations. The coolest
part involved the communicators’ ability to display where each of us was in
proximity to one another, in the event we became separated.

Connor and Krissie drove to the south end of Old Liberty
Road, taking the beaten path through the pine tree grid to the reservoir
shoreline. They carried the Corporation
agents into the pine tree grid, securing them to one of the larger trees, away
from the path. Connor’s concerned regarding
our hostages revolved around their visibility from the shoreline. Should Dan or his agents easily spot them, they
could use Brüder-3 to transport them up without living up to their end of the
bargain. I didn’t say anything to Connor,
but this situation was a breeding ground for a Mexican standoff.

Jim drove our group drove to the other side of the South
Liberty Road Bridge and parked in the same area I did when I attempted to
rescue Victor from the Brüder-3 crash in 1981.
We made the rather lengthy hike to the Brüder-3 remains and awaited the
order to proceed north to the reservoir shoreline. At that time, Ryan would visually displace us,
hiding our presence.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where we
were. The cul-de-sac section of reservoir
water where Connor and Krissie were hiking was the same section hiding the
underwater ES-1 entrance. The area
appeared much smaller when flying above it.
Here on the ground, the region was significantly larger in breadth.

Close to a half an hour passed after our arrival at the
Brüder-3 wreckage. The time on the
communicator said it was only a few minutes past ten in the morning. A lull in the conversation prompted me to ask
the obvious question. “When do you guys
remove these remains? There is going to
come a time when my curious younger self will find his way back here never to
rediscover them. It drove him – um, it
drove me nuts. I thought I had imagined
the whole thing.”

“I do not know,” Jim replied. “Since you have brought it to my attention,
it is something I should think about doing.
Did you copy Connor?”

“Ten-four,” Connor said in my ear. “It’s a low priority item right now.”

Jim nodded, even if Connor was unable to see him. “Is there anything happening down there?”

“Not a thing. It is a
little chillier though.”

What anyone else might have construed as a passing comment
on the weather, Jim interpreted differently.
“I believe this is a prelude for some form of weather phenomenon to
conceal Brüder-3.”

Connor paused. “ES-1,
do you copy?”

“Go ahead, TDI-1,” Tom replied.

“Jim believes Brüder-3 may be en route. It’s dropped a few degrees, the
temperature. Will you confirm, please?”

Pause. “Confirmed. It is almost sixty eight degrees where you
are now.”

“Okay everyone,” Connor said. “This is it.
It looks like Dan means to show up early. Ryan, lead your group to the shoreline. Stay twenty feet or so away from edge of the
woods. Be ready for anything. When Tom gives the word they are in range, I
want radio silence until you hear from me.”

Five different people said ‘copy’, more or less at the same
time.

Ryan turned to address us.
“Okay, this is going to be a little weird. Once were displaced, the view around you will
be distorted. There isn’t anything we
can do about that. I will lead you. Take large steps to avoid tripping over
anything, because if any of you are separated from me, you’ll be visible. Kevin, you’ll take my grip. Jim, you take Kevin’s. I’m not sure how long it will take to get
there, so move quickly, but carefully.
Questions?” I had several, but
they didn’t pertain to what we were about to do. Consequently, I shook my head no. Jim did the same.

I held out my arm to Jim.
He gripped it as football players do when assisting one another up off
the ground. I took Ryan’s in the same
manner. The aura of green filled my
perception of the world. As before,
everything appearing distorted through a green filter. This time I noticed a difference in sensory
perception. Someone could have taped wax
paper around my ears and I would not have known the difference.

Ryan began to walk, with purpose.

“Can you hear me?” I
said. I might as well have been speaking
into a pillow. My voice was that
indistinct.

“Copy,” Ryan replied.
“Big steps Kevin, c’mon…keep up.”

“How is this possible?”
I asked, giving in to the temptation to ask at the most inappropriate
time.

“It’s a very microscopic phase out of space-time,” Ryan said. “We can receive stimulus, although we don’t
give any off. To everyone else, we are
invisible.”

“Connor can’t hear us on the COM?”

“No, but we can hear him.
It also means that if The Corporation has displaced agents out here, we
will see them. They won’t be able to
contact their ship without revealing themselves. Have your Impüls weapons ready. Fire only if I fire first.”

For invisible people, we made quite a bit of noise tromping
through the woods in big steps towards the shoreline. The length we traveled, I don’t know. It took us close to half an hour to reach our
goal. If I concentrated hard enough, I
could see Connor and Krissie waiting at the edge of the woods.

Minutes passed with no activity. Fog formed around as the temperature dropped
and the humidity increased. This was no
ordinary fog. There was only one other
time I could recall such thick fog. The
day the Corporation took me from the reservoir, but that event should already
have occurred.

“It’s too bloody quiet,” I head Krissie say through the
communicator. “Even the wildlife has
gone silent.” She was right. The ambient sound of birds, frogs, and
crickets had ceased.

“They’re close,” Connor said, softly.

“Look,” Krissie whispered, “Someone’s coming.”

After several second, Connor said, “Its Dan. He’s walking down the shoreline from the
east. He appears to be alone.”

The east? Even with the lower water levels in the
reservoir, to come from the east meant Dan would have walked more than several
miles of shoreline to get to where Connor was, and there had been no lightning
strike disguising the Brüder-3 transporter.

“Ryan,” I whispered. “Something’s
wrong. There is no convenient path to
the reservoir from that direction.”

“Copy. It’s too late
to signal Connor. He’s own his own for
now.”

Dan was close enough that I could see him approaching
Connor, even through the distorted green view.
“You’re early,” Dan said. “I
believe we agreed to meet alone? Who is
this?”

“This is Dr. Ecklie.
She’s my chief medical officer and is here strictly in that
capacity. Besides Daniel, I don’t
believe for a minute you are here alone, so let’s not play games.”

“Of course. My
apologies,” Dan said in his deliberately annoying way. “You are correct, but I assure you our ship
is not here to interfere with our exchange.
The fact is you are here early.
Too early, in fact. I had other
business here to complete before our prisoner exchange.”

“Really?” Connor asked
with no belief in Dan’s explanation. “What
exactly would that be?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself,” Dan said. One could hear the smirk on his face.

The air around us became heavy. I knew what that meant. Brüder-3 was nearby. Near enough for her engines to mess with the
air pressure. A new voice called out
from left of where Connor and Dan were having their palaver. “Did any of you feel that?”

I looked around toward the direction the voice’s origin. Between the displacement distortion, the
distance, and the fog in between, I was unable to see any discernable figure. It didn’t matter. I knew who it was. In horror, the realization of what was about
to go down caused the blood to drain to my feet. “Oh no,” I whispered.

“Conundrum!” Dan
called out. “Is that you?”

“No, my name is--” The voice was cut off.

“Sir,” Connor shouted.
“You need to get out of here now!
This is a private matter!”

Our guest did not heed Connor’s warning. “Is everyone okay? Do I need to get some help?”

Dan answered him. “Everything
here is just fine, my friend. In fact,
you are right on time.” Dan paused. He continued in a softer voice. “Target acquired, take him.”

In a panicked voice, Krissie shouted, “Kevin, you need to
leave now! Run!”

Ryan’s grip on me tightened.
“Oh shit, we fucked this up,” he said under his breath.

I turned to look at Ryan, anger on my face. “They lied to us Ryan, they fucking
lied! They don’t have me, they’re about
to take me!”

A fearless seventeen-year-old version of me demanded, “How
do you know my name?”

I yanked my arm out of Ryan’s grip, my distorted field of
vision instantly righting its self. Jim
attempted to restrain me, but truly didn’t put up much of an effort. Ryan visually reappeared, attempting to reach
out for me. “Kevin, no! Don’t do it.”

I ignored him and sprinted for the tree line, stepping out
onto the vast reservoir shoreline. No
more than fifty feet in front of me stood my gangly seventeen-year-old
self. I looked at him in awe, the messy
blonde hair, the bad florescent tie dye T-shirt, and ripped jean shorts. I was never that skinny and unkempt.

“What the hell is going on here?” Dan spat, realizing Connor did not come
alone.

No one answered. I
couldn’t take my attention off younger me, looking him up and down, jaw
agape. He stared back at me, realizing
he might be looking at a much older version of himself. “Who the hell are you?” He asked.

“Oh my God,” I said. “This
is it.” I wanted to call out to him to
run away, to take some kind of cover from what was about to happen to him. I did none of those things. I simply stood there, frozen in place,
knowing that young man was about to be snatched up by an ancient alien
ship. Any attempt to stop this event
would most certainly create a paradox.

“What? Who are
you? Seriously.”

I didn’t answer. The
sound of the Brüder-3 transporter warming up filled the air with its jet engine
scream. The boy in front of me stared up
into the sky with no clue about what was happening. Frowning, I began to back away as the
screeching sound of the transporter peaked.

He looked back at me, reaching out. “Help me,” he whispered in a small,
frightened voice.

The last thing I saw was the terror in my own eyes before
the flash of simulated lightning filled our worlds. The force of the explosive transport blew me
off my feet, onto my back. Thunder
rolled away from ground zero. The force
of the impact knocked the wind out me. I
clutched at my gut, gasping for air, when what I really wanted to do was cover
my ears. I didn’t know which sound was
louder, the remnant of the thunderclap or the newfound ringing in my ears. I couldn’t focus or think clearly about
anything but the inability to catch my breath.
To make matters worse, the sudden flash of lightning left a negative
imprint on my corneas, temporarily blinding me.
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t regain normal breathing. I struggled to force my diaphragm to relax so
I could inhale. Two men picked me up by
my arms and dragged me into the woods. I
tried to speak. Pitiful gasps were the
result.

“It’s okay,” Ryan said.
“We have you.”

The green aura of Ryan’s displacement filled my peripheral vision
overtop the negative image. Slowly but
surely, it began to slowly sparkle away.

“Whats…happ…” I tried to say.

“There are a bunch of Corporation agents chasing Connor and
Krissie. They didn’t see me and Jim…” Another lightning strike hit an area further
down the shoreline. “Damn!”

I managed to pull in a full breath as the tension in my
abdomen began to subside. Random bursts
of energy tore through the air, crashing through leaves and branches. “Impüls fire,” Jim said. “Can you stand?”

“I will…if I have too,” I gasped.

Ryan let go of me.
The green aura disappeared. I was
able to see more clearly, although white sparkles continued to dance across my
vision. Standing was not as difficult as
I thought it would be.

I could hear shouting in the distance. Additional bursts of Impüls energy tore through
the tree branches, higher in orientation.
The positioning suggested its origination came from deeper into the
woods, on higher ground.

Jim handed me the Impüls I dropped on the shoreline after I
went down.

Ryan pointed towards the south. “They took off in that direction, towards the Brüder-3
wreckage. Shoot anything wearing a black
suit.” I nodded.

It was a struggle to keep up with Jim and Ryan as we ran
deeper into the woods. Energy bursts
continued to fly above our heads. I fell
far enough behind to lose sight of Jim, and Ryan way too far ahead of me to see
him. Out of thin air in a massive green
flash, a Corporation agent materialized directly in front of me, his back
turned. He meant to fire on Jim or Ryan. There was no physically way for me to avoid
running into to him, so I didn’t try. I
threw myself on top of him, knocking the weapon out of his hand. He went face down into the ground with the
weight of me on top. I rolled off him
and fired the Impüls directly into his chest.
The force of the blast carried his body across the ground and into a
tree. He didn’t get back up. I wasn’t sure if he was dead or unconscious.

Ryan must have heard the commotion. He ran toward me from out of nowhere. “Are you okay?”

“The fucker appeared out of thin air,” I said, between
breaths. “I ran into him.”

Ryan picked up the Impüls I knocked out of the agents hand
and stuffed it into the front of his pants.
“Nice job. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said, taking Ryan’s extended hand. He pulled me up to my feet. The once prevalent fog was all but gone,
making it much easier to see into the distance.

Another bolt lightning struck the area, father back behind
us in the direction of the pine tree grid.
Thunder rocked the area. I shook
my head. “They just picked up their captured
people.”

We continued to run in the direction of the waning Impüls fire,
coming upon another downed Corporation agent.
Ryan stopped long enough to put an Impüls burst into the agent’s weapon,
shattering it. This left at least three unaccounted
agents we knew of. We continued out dash
southward through the forest. I could no
longer hear traffic from Liberty Road, leaving me with no bearing on where I
was.

Before I could reply, Ryan disappeared. I stood frozen in place as several second
passed. When Ryan reappeared, he had his
index finger pressed on his lips, indicating I shouldn’t speak. He pointed off to the left, held up two
fingers, and briefly covered his eyes.
Two displaced agents were lurking off to the left. I held out my hands and shrugged my
shoulders, physically asking ‘what do we do now?’ Ryan looked around, spotting a larger tree we
could use as cover. He held out his arm. I took it.
We displaced, sending my world once again into a distorted green state. I allowed Ryan to lead me to the tree. He crouched down and indicated I should do
the same.

Ryan pressed his lips to my ear and all but mouthed what he wanted
to say. “They are displaced and could
see us. We wait here until they move
closer. I’ll take the one on the left,
you the right.” I nodded.

The wait stretched out forever. In reality, it was only a minute, maybe two; time
is funny like that. At last, the two
displaced agents came into view. I ever
so slightly poked my head around the tree to discover them slowly walking in
our direction. Within the sea of green displacement
distortion, two human shaped images moved carefully, giving off a strong green
aura.

Ryan pointed his Impüls, giving me a nod. We fired simultaneously at our respective
targets when they cleared the rear of the tree.
Both went down and reappeared into normal space-time. Ryan returned us to our normal state. Two black suited female agents lay
unconscious on the ground.

“Are they dead?” I
asked.

“I doubt it. They’ll
be out for hours though, long after we’ve left this place. I think we have one to go.” Ryan brought out his communicator, reopening
the open COM line. “Connor, do you copy?” Silence.
“Does anybody copy? Come back.”

Krissie answered. “Ryan,
where are you?”

Ryan flipped the communicator open and tapped at several holographic
buttons. An overlay of the area appeared
with two yellow dots in the center, representing Ryan and I.

“I don’t see you on tracking,” Ryan said. “Do you know where you are?”

“I’m hiding underneath the Brüder-3 wreckage. Come get me.”

“Copy, were on our way,” Ryan said. He adjusted the overlay on the communicator
display, widening the search radius. The
first adjustment produced nothing. The
second showed the area of the Brüder-3 remains and a yellow blip representing
Krissie.

“That’s almost a mile away,” I said, pointing out the
obvious. “What about Connor?”

“Connor isn’t even on the map,” Ryan said. “He may have jumped to another time to
prevent capture.” I felt panic wash
across my face. “Not to worry. If he did, he’ll be back. We should get Krissie.”

Ryan and I hurriedly hiked the distance to the Brüder-3
debris. Krissie hid underneath one of
the larger pieces, positioned to fire on any enemy that should approach.

I knelt down to her. “Are
you hurt?”

“No love, I’m fine. A
couple of near misses here or there.” I
helped Krissie out from underneath the heap and held her close. Krissie glanced at Ryan, then me. “Where is Jim?”

“I don’t know,” Ryan said.
“We became separated. He was
headed in this direction.”

“He never got here,” Krissie said.

Ryan widened the search parameter on his communicator to
encompass two miles. Neither Jim nor
Connor appeared on the layout.

A speck of bright
light appeared above the remains of Bruder-3.
I knew what that light meant, the hovering miniature star. Connor was about to displace. The three of us backed up a respectable
distance. The speck flashed,
encompassing the entire pile of wreckage.
Then nothing. The wreckage and
the light were gone. Before I could
contemplate asking Ryan what just occurred, a burst of the same ultra bright
light flashed and disappeared, leaving Connor in its place.

I looked at Ryan. “You
were right.”

“Where did you go?”
Ryan asked.

“I took the agent who was chasing me to a future point in
time, as I couldn’t outrun him. In his
confusion and sickness, I incapacitated him right there, underneath the remains
of Brüder-3 at some point in 2032,” Connor said, flashing an evil grin. “What’s the story here?”

Ryan answered. “The
good news is we took out four other agents.
I think that’s all of them. There
were two other lightning strikes. One we
think was to reclaim their people at the pine tree location. The other must have recovered Dan. The bad news, Jim is unaccounted for. We thought he might be with you.”

“Agreed,” said Connor, rubbing his chin. “Okay.
Let’s form a line, fifty foot spread back down to the shoreline. Absolute silence until we find Jim. They might still be out there, other agents.”

We formed a 200-foot long line, each of us at a fifty-foot
interval and began the slow trek back to the shoreline. I couldn’t see the status of the others. As for me, I held onto the Impüls as if my
life depended on it, ready to fire at anything in a black suit.

Within minutes, Krissie discovered him, calling out for
Connor. Jim took a hit from enemy fire,
knocking him several feet back from where he once stood. Both his communicator and weapon lay in
pieces. He was alive but unconscious and
not responding to stimuli. Connor knelt
next to him, appearing angry, and cold. “Did
they soul suppress him?”

“I don’t know,” Krissie said. “My gear is in the car.”

Connor looked around carefully. “We should go before more of those bastards
show up. Brüder-3 is still around. It’s going to return younger Kevin in the
next hour. Tom will retrieve him and
drive him to the hospital.”

No one disagreed. Connor
carefully carried Jim over his shoulder as we walked in silence, hiking our way
southeast to Luke’s car parked on the side of Liberty Road. Several times, Connor attempted unsuccessfully
to raise Tom on his communicator. He was
M.I.A., probably en route to prep for saving younger me. No one said it, but we knew Tom should have
his communicator on him, or perhaps he was in a position where radio silence
was necessary.

When we reached the Honda, Connor laid Jim upright in the
backseat next to Krissie and Ryan. He
opted to ride shotgun, leaving the job of driving to me. We returned to Jim’s car so Krissie could
reclaim her medical bag. She quickly
determined Jim was not soul suppressed. However, the Impüls fire he sustained was
substantial. He would be out until he
woke up on his own, with no ETA when that might be. With no one to drive it, Jim’s car would have
to wait for retrieval. Connor begrudgingly
instructed me to drive Luke’s car into Eldersburg, with care not to attract
undue attention, specifically that of the police.

With his hand over his closed eyes, Connor spoke. “Obviously, this mission didn’t go as planned. Tom is supposed to be tracking it, Brüder-3,
and he still might be through his communicator.
My not being able to contact him however is a problem, a variable I didn’t
expect. Since I don’t know what’s going
on with him, we have no way of knowing if The Corporation is tracking us,
currently. I also didn’t expect to have a
man down, in Jim. We can’t go back to
the Arthur Avenue location, or ES-1. If they
are tracking us, The Corporation, and I believe they probably are, we’ll need
to regroup someplace else until Tom makes contact.”

“What about Jim’s place?”
Ryan asked.

“No,” Connor said, almost before Ryan finished the
question. “We don’t want to lead The
Corporation there, even if they claim to know where he lives.” Connor looked at me. “Are there any motels in Eldersburg during
this era?”

“No,” I said, frowning.

Connor half grinned. “Are
you sure?”

“Yes. I’m seventeen
in this time. When kids my age want to
get a hotel room, we have to go all the way to Westminster. Eldersburg has none. The first one doesn’t get built until 1997.”

Connor sighed in frustration. “I really didn’t want to travel that far away
from ES-1. If we get involved in events
of this era, well…I don’t have to tell you why.
We’ve done no research from the observatories. I don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing
now.”

“There is a shitty little motel called the Red Barn Inn in
Westminster,” I said. “It’s a dumpy hole
in the wall. I know exactly how to get
there unnoticed.”

“So be it,” Connor said.
“There is to be no interaction with any of them, the people of this era,
if you can possibly help it. I’ll deal with
getting us a room at the Inn.”

“I don’t get it,” I
said. “Why not just take us to some date
in the future and regroup there?”

“I will as a last resort,” Connor said. “We’ll wait for Tom to contact us. Once he returns to ES-1 and makes sure the
area is not under Corporation surveillance, we’ll be able to return to 2006
using protocol. If worse comes to worst,
we’ll displace to some point after the war and deal with them then, the risks.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Risks? What other risks would there be?”

“Even if we displace to some future time, where there is no
longer a functioning society, we still have to get back to ES-1 safely. After the war, moving from place to place on
this side of The Boundaries isn’t as easy as you might think, where there is a
huge Corporation presence.”

“Why not displace closer to Eldersburg?” I asked.
“It’s closer to ES-1.”

“Assuming we could find a safe location to do that without
being seen, and assuming they are tracking us, The Corporation, falling off
their radar so close to ES-1 might raise suspicion. It’s obvious they suspect there’s something there
worth investigating, around the reservoir.
I don’t want to give them any more cause for curiosity.” Connor grinned. “Not to worry, it won’t come to that. It’s part of the job, patience.”

VI

Five hours later, when 3:00 PM rolled around, Connor’s
patience was beginning to run out. Jim
had not yet regained consciousness. Tom
still had not checked in and wasn’t responding to any queries. Connor believed should Tom be avoiding ES-1
over fear of someone following him, he would have notified him as such.

Connor checked our group into two separate – but adjoining –
rooms at the Red Barn Inn using era specific money from Jim’s wallet. Protocol allowed Tom twenty-four hours to
make contact before he would officially be declared missing in action. It meant we would be spending the night in
Westminster, Maryland of 1989. I was
fine with this, to be honest. Most of
our group was pushing close to twenty-four hours without sleep. Even though it was mid afternoon, my body
insisted it was closer to midnight and demanded rest.

Krissie was the first to succumb to fatigue. She excused herself to the adjoining room and
immediately fell asleep on one of the two available twin beds. Connor and Ryan sat around the small table at
the front of the next room, discussing possibilities for Tom’s radio silence
and feasible options should he not make contact by 10:00 AM tomorrow.

As for me, I lied down on the twin bed closest to the table
and drifted off to sleep, a very light sleep by its rawest definition. I could hear the ongoing conversation, but it
was far off. So much so, there came a point
where I couldn’t distinguish reality from an oncoming dream, the point in
semi-consciousness when time itself means nothing. An hour could go by in a minute, or even a
second. I could literally feel the
pressure of the day’s events seeping out of my head, recharging my brain for
the next day’s worth of input.

I opened my eyes, already facing the direction of the
roundtable. Ryan barked off an
unmistakable, “No!”

I sat up, propping myself on my elbows. “Did I hear you right?” I asked.
“You want to contact Martin?
How is that even possible?”

Connor turned to make eye contact. They were sunk into his skull, circles of
black underneath. “It happened two
months ago, the riot at Cranberry Mall, by this time index. That’s when I rescued Martin and brought him
to 2062 - where Robert and I were living at the time – and saved his life. This was before we had Krissie. Martin stayed with us for a while, to finish
what we were working on back then. I
brought him back to his current time index after that, to June of 1989, close
to a month after I took him away. Martin
has work to do here, until 1993, and then until 2003, before he’ll join us
2076.”

“None of that makes sense to me,” I said, flatly.

“It’s okay,” Connor said, reassuring me with a tired chuckle. “It would take more time than we have, to
paint the entire picture. Martin is in
this era now, as an eighteen-year-old boy, and not the forty nine year old guy
you met. The Corporation has not gotten
to him yet.”

Ryan scoffed. “Or so
you hope, sir.”

Connor gave Ryan an annoyed look. “Statistically speaking, the odds are so high
it might as well be impossible.”

“I think he’s ‘trusting his gut’ again, Ryan,” I said,
smirking.

Connor pointed at me with a grin. “You got it.”
I thought it was a grin, but as I was seeing double of everyone, I
couldn’t say for sure. I was more tired
than I thought. “So what could Martin do
for us?”

Connor paused, unsure of how to answer. “He could go back there, to ES-1 and see what
the hell is going on. I could raise him
on his communicator and give him instructions.
The Corporation is not watching him.”

Ryan answered. “Martin
can’t have any memory of ES-1 due to his future involvement with The
Corporation. None of us should. It was supposed to remain a secret.”

“This is why I have the team I do,” Connor said looking back
in my direction. “Under normal
circumstances, these temporal displacement missions involve careful planning,
down to the second to avoid the mistake I almost made. I’ve been awake too long. I’m not thinking clearly.”

“You should get some sleep,” Ryan suggested. “We all should.”

I stood up to adjourn to the next room. “No argument there. I’m out.”
I walked into the adjoining room.
Krissie was long asleep on the bed by the door. I flopped onto the other bed and fell asleep
before my head hit the pillow.

VII

My sleep may have been deep, but it was restless all the
same. If I had dreams, I didn’t remember
them. The only thing I remember was
waking up suddenly with Krissie spooned next to me, dressed only in her
underwear and bra. I felt the blood rush
to my extremities giving me a pleasurable sparkle.

“Kristina?” I
whispered.

“Kevin,” she whispered in reply.

“What are you doing?”

“Cuddling up to you, sweetheart. I feel safer.” I bit my lip.
I would never get back to sleep with a raging formation in my pants. She turned in the bed to face me. “We’re all alone,” she said softly. “Everyone else is asleep.”

“So I gathered.”

“Do you want me?” She
asked with her sweet smile, those twinkling blue eyes staring deep into
mine. I didn’t know how to answer her question
any other way then ‘yes’.

“I…um, Kristina, this is a weird time for…”

“You didn’t answer my question, love.”

I sighed and leaned forward to kiss her. She kissed back with the intensity of a
lightning strike. She rolled over, lying
on top of me. Her firm breasts pressed
against me, her long red hair falling into my face as we kissed deeply. She was doing all the things I liked, things that
turned me on. It was information I must
have shared with her when she knew me previously. She sat up, grabbed my hands, and placed them
on her breasts. She bit her bottom lip
with a soft moan. I was so ready to give
in, and to hell with any rules or protocols forbidding these kinds of incidents,
if any. I wanted her, now.

“I do,” I finally managed to say.

An evil grin crept across her face. “You do what?”

“Want you.”

“Then tell me Kevin, tell me what you want and maybe I will
grant your wish.”

“I want you Kristina,” I whispered in her ear as she leaned
down onto me, dangling her hair in the process.
“I want to make love to you, Kristina.”

Kristina.
Christina.

I want to make love to you, Christina.

Images of a different girl filled my head, one I had not
seen since 1989. Christina Buchanan. We dated during the last half of my senior
year of high school and part of the summer of 1989. Echoes of my seventeen-year-old self repeated
the same sentence over and over again, ‘I
want to make love to you, Christina.’

It all came back to me at once: The morning in choir class when Myer, Manyette,
and I found the quarter, Brüder-3, Victor Merrick, Dan and his interrogation, everything
I endured while I was a Corporation prisoner aboard Brüder-3.

“I’m not sure where to start,” I said, sitting at the round table
in the other motel room. Krissie – now
fully dressed - sat next to me, holding my hand. Connor and Ryan sat across from me. Jim, still off in sandman land lied still on
the bed farthest into the room, breathing deeply.

“At the very beginning,” Connor said. “Leave nothing out, no matter how
insignificant you think it is.”

Other Collections

About Us:

Inkitt is the world’s first reader-powered book publisher, offering an online community for talented authors and book lovers. Write captivating stories, read enchanting novels, and we’ll publish the books you love the most based on crowd wisdom.